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The Food Reserve Agency (FRA) has announced that it was fully prepared to commence the 2026 crop marketing programme but will delay maize purchases until moisture levels drop to acceptable standards for long-term storage.
Board Chairperson, Suresh Desai, announced the crop marketing arrangements at FRA Head Office in Lusaka on Monday, saying the agency was responding to calls by President Hakainde Hichilema to begin buying grain for the national strategic reserve.
Desai said the delay was necessitated by food safety requirements, noting that FRA was mandated to store grain for national food security and that high moisture content would compromise quality.
He revealed that a survey conducted recently showed moisture levels were still above the required threshold and that the highest recorded moisture content stood at 18.14 percent while the lowest was 13.57 percent.
“For long term storage, it is absolutely essential that the stored maize has a moisture level of 12.5 percent and below. If the moisture level is higher, the grain will spoil easily and even develop aflatoxins which are very dangerous to human and animal health,” Desai stated.
He gave a firm commitment that purchases would begin immediately once moisture content fell to 12.5 percent or below, emphasizing that the agency did not want to risk grain spoilage that would undermine national food reserves.
He also outlined extensive preparations already completed for the buying exercise, saying the agency had established 1,749 buying depot sites, recruited 3,498 depot clerks and an equal number of security guards, and distributed 7 million empty grain bags to districts with a further 23 million held in central storage.
On payments, Desai announced a major policy shift for this season saying all purchases of maize and paddy rice would be made through a digital online payment system to eliminate long queues experienced in previous years.
“We have developed and tested a suitable digital farmer payment system. Farmers are required to have an active bank account or an active mobile money account with Airtel, Zamtel or MTN, to facilitate digital farmer payments,” Desai said.
He urged farmers who had not yet done so to urgently submit either bank account or mobile money details to FRA district offices to which many farmers have already complied.
Desai said the agency was currently in consultations with stakeholders to determine buying prices for maize and rice for the 2026/2027 season, and that the prices would be announced soon.
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